Triumph of Chastity Gm-00054001

Francesco di Giorgio Martini (Italian (Sienese), 1439–1501) A chastised Cupid with bound arms and clipped wings walks before a unicorn-drawn chariot carrying the enthroned figure of Chastity to her six-sided temple. At either end of the panel is a bird, possibly a swan, which also symbolized chastity, draped with an escutcheon displaying a coat of arms. The arms belong to the Gabbrielli and Luti families, who celebrated a wedding in 1464.

Artists often painted cassoni, chests designed to carry a bride's trousseau, with such themes as the Triumph of Chastity, invoking the bride to honor the sanctity of marriage and warning her of the consequences if she does not. Cassoni panels such as this one also often featured processions, recalling the nuptial processions in which the chests traveled with the bride to her husband's home.

The ethereal figures, delicate linearity, and intricate patterning of the scene betray Francesco di Giorgio Martini's Sienese origins.